Beowulf in popular culture: how much one can make with just one myth

Beowulf is the oldest Anglo-Saxon heroic poem, and the events described in it take place around 6th century. This alliterative composition, dating back to the year 1000, consists of 3182 lines, and it has been written, probably by two scribes, in the West Saxon dialect of Old English. Currently, the manuscript is in the British Library. For the first time, the text was translated into a modern language (Danish) by Nikolaj Grundtvig.
I am sure that some of the readers of the article yelled: “What the fuck?” and quickly closed the page with the article. So, now I will ask those, who stayed: have you read Beowulf? Probably not many of you said yes. Why? The answer to this question might as well be another question: who on earth reads such things nowadays? Well, hardly anyone. The glorious exception to this is me, maybe some three editors of Efantastyka.pl, and a few enthusiasts of the subject; the less glorious exception – the students for whom the reading is obligatory.
I’ll ask another question then: who of you knows the name of the main character? I bet that to this question there were many more positive answers. You are now visiting a website on fantasy, which gives me the idea that the genre is of some interest to you. And who is Beowulf for an average fan of fantasy? Yes, of course! A famous fantasy hero. Beowulf… Beowulf! Yes! Someone like Conan. Or Geralt of Rivia, or Aragorn.
How come the mythical early medieval king of the Geats evolved into an important character of the world pop culture? Obviously in the same way as king Arthur, Merlin or Baba Yaga. And it is thanks to numerous artists who look for inspiration in places where there is plenty of it: in primeval sources, myths and legends. And Beowulf perfectly fits the scheme of inspiration for fantasy authors. Is there an invincible hero possessing the strength of 30 men? Yes. A fierce monster to be defeated? Yes. A treasure to gain? Yes. A dragon? Yes. Tragedy and pathos? Yes. Meaningful allusions, that may inspire people to add something to the story? Again – yes. What else do you need? You just need to write, make a movie and… fight for the right to interpretation.

Over the last thirty years, mainly the movie makers proved how much one can do with Beowulf alone, and how various versions of one myth would fit different conventions. The character is a real Legion, a man of countless number of faces. But it’s not only Beowulf who can be an inspiration. The authors particularly fancy Grendel – and they created a great number of various forms of the creature. But apparently inventing the monster’s looks and way of fighting is not entertaining enough. What turned out to be way more interesting, are speculations on the origin of the creature and making up new, more and more original roots for Grendel. And this is only because the monster’s father is not known…
Let’s take a look at different versions of Beowulf. I decided not to present them in chronological order. Why? See for yourself.

1. Beowulf: mega-turbo-epic heroic fantasy scenario

Undoubtedly, the most popular movie about Beowulf is the one from year 2007, made with the use of an innovative motion capture technology. The movie was directed by Robert Zemeckis, and the authors of the script were Roger Avery and Neil Gaiman.
This is an example of a typical Hollywood heroic fantasy production. The protagonist is a total hench, the movie is packed with special effects and the monsters unnatural, as if they were taken from a computer game. What is a bit irritating is Beowulf wearing a chainmail on his bare skin, fighting completely naked with Grendel, or jumping on the ceiling beams like a real ninja. But these are things that one can turn a blind eye to, because the movie looks excellent as a whole, and it is really pleasant to watch.
You should definitely pay attention to the way in which the story of the mythical hero was told. Here, Beowulf is a typical fantasy hero. The movie is way more pompous than the epic original. The plot based on the poem (which originally consists of around 100 pages in the standard book version) is very impressive. The scriptwriters created an exquisite, magical atmosphere typical to fantasy genre; and carefully preserving every detail, they mixed the atmosphere with the original story. Another thing worth mentioning is the extraordinary use of Grendel’s identity, which became the base of the plot.
To sum it up – well done. Imagination has been given full rein, the standard level of hollywoodness has been preserved, and the original myth hasn’t been violated.

2. Beowulf – dark/Cornwell scenario

My favourite movie about Beowulf is Beowulf & Grendel (2005), a UK-Canada-Iceland co-production, directed by Sturla Gunnarson.
It is not difficult to guess that the level of hollywoodness is much lower here. Or, actually, there is no hollywoodness in it. And that’s good! Personally, even if I liked the movie by Zemeckis, I find Gunnarson’s adaptation fascinating! It is realistic and lacks all the unnecessary pathos. The movie is only focused on the confrontation of Beowulf and Grendel, that is, on the first part of the epic. The story has been told in a way which makes one think it could have really happened. This is a story without poetic interpretation of an unknown skald – and it is not a disadvantage; quite on the contrary! It is even better! The viewer faces a brutish, savage world of the early medieval Scandinavia. Beowulf is a completely ordinary, though a very brave, valiant man, and Grendel is not a supernatural creature. This makes me think of Bernard Cornwell’s version of the Arthurian legend.

3. Beowulf – psychedelic dream scenario

Another film interpretation of Beowulf’s story is a short animation Animated Epics: Beowulf (1998).
Here, the filmmakers cared for every detail and the story turned out to be very faithful. Concerning the plot, this is the version that is closest to the original.
However, what pleased me most is the fact that the „structure” of the story has been preserved. The viewer is like someone listening to a saga told by a skald. The narrator tells the story, and the pictures… flow. This was the creators’ intention – as a result the movie resembles a dream vision or a hallucination. The sounds draw the viewer’s attention more than the views. Sometimes the movie seems to be a bit psychedelic, but possibly a man who would just listen to the story, instead of watching it, could imagine it like that.

4. Beowulf: futuristic/post-apocalyptic/industrial/witcher scenario

A person hungry for new interpretations of Beowulf’s story might stumble upon Beowulf (1999) directed by Graham Baker. This is where the bizarre versions of the story begin.
Now that’s a huge surprise – here, Beowulf is… a dark defender of the post-apocalyptic world. Accompanied by industrial music in the background, the hero wanders through the futuristic reality. Are you surprised? Well, this is not the last surprise. The protagonist looks and behaves exactly like… the witcher - Geralt of Rivia. They are almost identical, like two peas in a pod.

5. Beowulf: silly/cute scenario

However, this is not the end of bizarre stories about Beowulf. If the one above brought you to your knees, it means that you haven’t seen the Australian animated movie from year 1981: Grendel Grendel Grendel, directed by Alexander Stitt.
If you want to make your brain melt, it is a must-see. The movie begins with a short documentary introduction. Do you have an impression, that it is a serious thing? If so, you couldn’t be more wrong! The introduction is followed by a simple one-dimensional animation, and the characters who talk in a Monty Python manner. Does that beat everything? No way! You need to wait just a while to hear a nice little song, just like those from Disney movies. A song… about how mommy loves her tiny, sweet Grendel.
The mythical beast is introduced as a victim of the system, the system being nothing else but a gang of stupid Vikings. The movie tells the story of mother’s love for her cute sonny-boy. And the boy just wants to play using those mumbling idiots as toys – and from time to time bring some of those idiots as a gift for mommy.

6. Beowulf: “say NO to racism” scenario

If any of the movies mentioned above scared you or confused you, you better keep calm, because I have not yet finished. The final ace in the hole is the most recent, produced just after the Zemeckis’ movie, Beowulf: Prince of the Geats directed by Scott Wegener. And why hasn’t the movie turned out to be a huge success…?
The answer is simple – the viewers are despicable racists! They did not appreciate the innovative vision of the creators, nor were they convinced by the intentions of the filmmakers who decided to donate all the profits to charity. The results of showing Beowulf as a black man have been opposite to what the producers expected. Just to think that we live in times when tolerance is ubiquitous…
Yes, you got that right. Oh fuck! Beowulf is black…

Not only the movies

Beowulf is an inspiration not only to filmmakers. In recent years the story has been used in different creations of pop culture.

Beowulf in pictures

The hero of the Anglo-Saxon epic has appeared in comic books a few times. The first authors to exploit the myth were Michael Uslan and Ricardo Villamonte. Their comic consists of six issues published between 1975 and 1976 by DS Comics. Here, Beowulf gradually evolves; he starts his career killing monsters, but later on the plot slightly turns from fantasy to science fiction… Also, the looks of the hero is hilarious – he wears a metal crotch protector, and a helmet with ridiculously huge horns.
Other comic books in which Beowulf appears are: a graphic novel published in 1984 as a part of the First Comics series, one of the parts of Canadian series Speakeasy Comics from 2005, and a cyberpunk comic published in 2006 by Antarctic Press. In 2007, thanks to the great success of Zemeckis’ movie, two more were published: Steve Stern and Pedro Delgado’s Beowulf, and a graphic novel based on the movie, published by IDW Publishing.

Beowulf in virtual reality

Every respected hero should have a computer game about him. And Beowulf is not just any hero, so Ubisoft Studios decided to upgrade him to a higher level of pop culture by publishing Beowulf. The Game. in 2007. In Poland the distributor game is Cenega, and the game is not allowed to children under the age of 18.
The authors let the players choose between two alternative images of Beowulf. That is, you either are a noble hero, the defender of humanity, or join the dark side and play as a barbarian hungry for wealth and power. The players are free to choose the one they like better.

Beowulf: a writer’s inspiration

It may seem curious that among all the movies, comic books and games only one novel about Beowulf appeared. The hero and his story might be a great inspiration to writers too. So far, only one author, Caitlín R. Kiernan, decided to take her chances. Her book was published in 2003, and it is an extension of Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary’s script to Zemeckis’ movie.
The book touches upon subjects which were not shown in the movie. Caitlín R. Kiernan not only nicely converted the movie to the literary form, but also enriched the story, making it even more fascinating and enchanting. At the same time, the Hollywood super-mega-turbo features are not present in the book, which is a great advantage. Even if I was skeptical about a book based on the script, I have to admit that the effect was truly surprising.

Beowulf: Tolkien style

I couldn’t omit one particularly interesting matter, that is, the fact that one of the fathers of the fantasy genre, J.R.R. Tolkien, was also inspired by Beowulf. In his famous essay Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, the creator of the Middleearth claimed that the Anglo-Saxon hero is the perfect picture of the Dragon-Slayer from the North. And it is Beowulf along with Sigurd from the Völsunga Saga who were the inspiration for Tolkien’s Turin.

How do you imagine Beowulf?

Fortunately, Beowulf’s myth can hardly be overexploited, and just like Conan or Thorgal’s story – it never gets old. This leaves a place for the future generations of artists – the possibilities are countless. For instance… a ninja Beowulf or a steampunk Beowulf? Beowulf in the sixteenth-century Poland? Beowulf and the Holy Grail? Beowulf in Wonderland? Beowulf and the Fellowship of the Ring? Beowulf in space? Beowulf teaching DADA in Hogwarts? Beowulf the Last Ronin (samurai motives seem to be popular these days)? Well, if we are to continue this, I’d suggest a vampire Beowulf or a werewolf Beowulf. Oh, are these a bit outdated? Okay then, how about Beowulf the nephilim, Beowulf the fallen angel or Beowulf and Lucifer? Still not enough of evil, darkness and animal cruelty? Fine! Beowulf from the Deepest Abyss of Hell! You can also choose from all the other popular genres. Maybe you’d like to read a paranormal romance with Beowulf as the main protagonist… or maybe a soap opera Beowulf’s Last Breath would be better? It would be perfect for a story about looking for Grendel’s father. Being so inspired, one can just make movies, write novels, produce games, create RPG systems, paint pictures, compose music, make musical comedies and mime shows…
Creative people! I speak to you now: show us a Beowulf we have not seen yet! I believe in you and your creativity! And now… get to work!

Paulina Maria "Lorelay" Szymborska-Karcz
Tłumaczenie: Justyna "Rayla" Mędrek